The symbol of Venus is ♀, a figure which is nothing more than the conventionalized form of a looking-glass, an article that is often pictured in the hands of the goddess for whom our beautiful planet was named. In her general aspect she is as placidly splendid and charming as ever a goddess could be, and it is not strange that the happy ears that could hear such strains should find her, as they did, singing a rich contralto in the music of the spheres. Jupiter and Saturn, under this mythological apportionment, sang bass, Mars took care of the tenor strains, and the high soprano was carried by our little dwarf Mercury. XII MARS The planet that varies most in the beauty of its aspect is Mars. It is as much as fifty times brighter when it is nearest to us than it is at its greatest distance from us. At its brightest it is many times more brilliant than any of the first-magnitude stars; but when it leaves our neighborhood and goes far off into space in its journey around the sun, its glory is so dimmed that it becomes not brighter than an ordinary second-magnitude star, such as the pole-star, and less brilliant than the brightest stars in the Big Dipper. These extreme changes of brightness are due not so much to any great distance that Mars goes from us in comparison with other planets as to its coming so very near to us at times. It is, after all, a small body, and no great distance, as heavenly distances go, is required to make it show so. But the eccentricity of its orbit brings it sometimes very near us, and its near approaches are at a time when we can see its entire disc, and not a mere crescent, such as we see when Venus is nearest to us. Mars does not come quite so near to us as Venus comes, but when he is in the best position to be seen he is much nearer than she is when in her best position. For we have seen that Venus is brightest before she reaches her nearest position to us, while Mars is brightest when he is at his nearest to us. When Venus is at greatest elongation she is three times farther away than Mars is at his nearest. HOW TO IDENTIFY MARS